When I was little, I remember grocery shopping with my mother. I always wanted the small bags of pre-packaged crackers, perfect for boxed lunches. But she taught me quickly – “See this little box? It’s $2.00 per ounce. See this big box? It’s $1.00 per ounce for the same exact thing.”

Surprise, surprise… We bought the big box.

Many of us have memories like this. And as adults, if we want to lower the cost of ingredients for our company, what’s the first thing that you think comes to mind? That’s right. We want to save money by switching to a larger packaging size.

I was at Target the other day, buying socks. They were $4 per pair (when did socks get so expensive, right?).

They also had a had a pre-packaged set of 4 for $10. I bought the set. Why did I make that choice? Well, they were the same kind of socks and the set was cheaper (for each pair of socks).

It's nice to pay less money for the exact same product.

A similar situation also applies to the bulk oil that you buy. You can get the same sort of quick and easy savings on oil, without changing a thing about the actual oil that you're buying. It all has to do with how much oil you're buying.

The price of olive oil is going up this year. In short, global production is down by 25%, which is causing oil prices to increase around the world. If you use olive oil as a food manufacturing ingredient, this change affects your business and your profit margins.

You probably want to bring your cost of ingredients down -- not up -- right?

This is a common concern and is more challenging to achieve in poor olive harvest seasons. It requires you to look closely at your buying strategy and make some tough business decisions.

Want to get the best deal on bulk edible oil for your business? You may not to pry it out of your bulk oil ingredient supplier. In fact, there's lots of simple things that you can do to help cut your own costs and save money. Hopefully, your supplier is already suggesting them to you!

Take this list into your next meeting with your bulk oil vendor and try to put as many of these strategies into play as possible. They will cut your costs, allow your team work more efficiently and best of all, prove your worth as a strategic and skilled purchasing manager.

Have you heard predictions that your bul oil ingredient price will increase because the commodity market is going up? Hearing this news can be frustrating for purchasing managers, because you have no control over the market. You are, however, still responsible for protecting your business from rising costs. So what can you do?

There is, in fact, something that you can still do to cut your bulk edible oil costs in times like this. It all has to do with the global commodity market, where your oils are coming from and your buying strategy.

Last weekend, I went to the grocery store for some ingredients to make chicken wings. I wanted to buy Frank's Red Hot Sauce to make a homemade buffalo sauce (delicious, I know).

I could buy a small 5 oz bottle for $1.48 (which came out to $0.29 per ounce, if you're doing the math).Or instead, I could buy a larger 12 oz bottle for $2.28. On this second option, I'd pay more overall for the larger bottle, but I'd end up paying less per ounce-- only $0.19 in comparison to $0.29. Heck yeah! I thought. I took option B.

By opting for the larger packaging size, I could save money on the same exact product. If you didn't already know, you can do the same thing on your bulk oil purchases to save money: change to a larger packaging size to save money on the exact same oil.

If you need to meet a particular price point on your bulk oil ingredients that may seem unreachably low, you do have a few options. You can reach your price goals, but you'll have to make some choices, and prioritize what's most important to you.

This discussion is especially pertinant for manufacturers who are trying to reach a particular target customer (which means you'll need to keep your own product within a particular price range) or if you're a co-packer that is packing for a brand that has specific price restrictions.

I worked with a customer in this situation a year ago. They came to me wanting a "really low price for Extra Virgin Olive Oil". It had to be Extra Virgin, and it had to be under $1.00 per pound. Unfortunately, I explained to them, that's just not going to happen.

So where do you go from there? Here's theadvice I gave them, on the best ways to drastically reduce bulk oil costs, meet the customers' price goals and move forward with a strategic plan.

Want to lock in a contracted rate for for your bulk oil ingredients? As a purchaser buying raw ingredients for a manufacturing company, this can be a very smart thing to do.

Signing a price contract can give your company stability on your cost of ingredients, and allow you to stategically plan your budget. In addition, it can provide you with a bit of cushion if the commodity market unexpectedly goes south.

But, if you lock in your rates at the wrong time, you'll be required to pay more than the market price for oils. It takes a firm understanding of the market and good help from your suppliers to lock in pricing at the right time.

So in the debate of whether to sign a supply contract or not, the definitive answer is yes, go for it-- but only at the right time. When is it the right time?

You'll need to ask the right questions and the answer will emerge naturally after that.

Unfortunately, the commodity market for your bulk food ingredients often just is what it is, and it's completely out of your control.

Most people would agree that at the end of the day, there's only so much a purchasing manager do can do to lower your ingredient costs-- which includes bulk oils. You just have to go with the flow, they say, even though it could be slashing your profit margin, or possibly even sinking your business.

Well, we don't agree. We think you'll just have to get creative when it comes to how you're buying.

It's true, there's nothing that you can do about the prices mandated by the commodity market. But you can make lots of little other changes that can makem that all factor into your total price. These add up to big savings.

Here are the best 4 ways we know of to begin lowering your bulk oil ingredient costs. Even better? You don't have to wait for the commodity market to be high-- you can start saving money right now.

If you use natural or specialty oils as a bulk ingredient in your manufacturing, you already are well aware. You may even be feeling the market pressure. Perhaps, even, you've wondered what other non-gmo or organic bulk oils you could be using as an alternative.

Today we're going to focus on price-- always the giant elephant in the room. Here's how the pricing of some of the most common healthy, non-GMO or organic oils compares: Extra Virgin vs. Safflower & Sunflower Oil (see graph with actual prices below).